Suzanne Rowe Palacino, 59, of Wellesley, Mass., died of cancer at her home on April 23, 2024. Her husband James and daughters Nicole and Tara were by her side.

Suzanne attended Pittsford, NY public schools, and cheered enthusiastically for the Sutherland High School Knights as a varsity cheerleader. She studied marketing and French at SUNY Oswego, then began a long and distinguished career at Xerox.

Suzanne met her husband through the young adult group at Holy Trinity Church in Washington, DC where James was a social director. They were married in Wellesley in 1996 and began their lives together in Chicago, where Suzanne worked for Xerox and James, a biomedical scientist, earned his PhD at Loyola University.

In 2001, the Palacinos settled in Wellesley, where they enjoyed the changing seasons, skiing in winter and hiking and visiting beaches in the summer. Suzanne left Xerox in 2007 and focused on her girls, teaching them to be self-confident and find their own paths.

Inspired by the Buddhist community at Wellesley College, Suzanne also began to study and practice mindfulness, eventually becoming a certified mindfulness facilitation trainer through the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She led mindfulness sessions even in the last weeks of her life. Her thoughtful approach to life extended to how she treated the earth. She was a committed recycler and it was difficult to find a plastic bag in Suzanne’s kitchen.

Living mindfully did not mean living quietly. She made friends quickly and kept them for decades. Suzanne’s laugh was an unrestrained delight, and she was wired for fun: a hip-hop dancer, connoisseur of clever greeting cards, and once seen skiing in a banana suit. Her wedding reception might still be going on if she and James hadn’t taken pity on the staff of Wellesley College Club.

Suzanne was preceded in death by her parents, Donald and Madelyn Rowe. In addition to James, Nicole and Tara, she is survived by her sister, Kathleen Rowe.

A celebration of her life will be held on July 13, 2024, at Wellesley Chapel on the campus of Wellesley College. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to James Palacino’s Pan- Mass Challenge bike ride to support the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (PMC ID – JP0529).

Longtime Wellesley Townsman editor Catherine Brauner died on May 2 at the age of 75 after a recent illness. Her contributions to the town as a journalist and resident are being recalled by those who read her articles, worked and volunteered with her, and appreciated all that she did for the town—the town in which she grew up and later returned to for the bulk of her life and career. With her presence in residents’ homes every Thursday via the weekly newspaper, Cathy Brauner was an integral part of Wellesley.

Cathy was born in Darby, Penn., on Feb. 12, 1949, and was educated in the Wellesley Public School system followed by a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Drew University in 1971.

After graduation, she lived and worked in Washington, D.C. until her move to St. Albans, Vt., to start her journalism career. She was a staff reporter at the daily St. Albans Messenger until her move back to Wellesley. She then started as a part-time reporter for The Wellesley Townsman newspaper while pursuing her master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Upon graduation from BU, she was promoted to the editor of the Townsman, where she worked for 29 years.

The daughter of the late William (a physicist and electrical engineer) and Phyllis (Wellesley College ‘40 and a professor of chemistry at Simmons College), Cathy and her sister Susan grew up on Benton Street. Cathy raised her two daughters, who also graduated from Wellesley High School. She was also a devoted dog mom to a succession of rescues who for years were mascots for the town’s Concerts in the Park, and who rode in the Townsman’s car during town parades.

Greg Reibman, former publisher of the Townsman, recalled, “Cathy Brauner was tenacious. I’m sure there were more than a few town leaders who were quite fearful anytime she called, or when the Townsman would arrive each Thursday. But that’s because she loved Wellesley passionately and believed in holding her hometown leaders to the highest standards.

“Truth is, those of us who were privileged to work with her were a little intimidated by her intensity, too. But we came to learn that Cathy was actually something of a softy, dedicated to her work, her children, her rescue dogs, to journalism, and to her community. She will be deeply missed.”

Cathy was awarded a Distinguished Service Award from the town of Wellesley in 2022 for her years of volunteering for the community. The award declaration read, “Not only was Cathy a presence in all of our homes on Thursdays with the arrival of the paper, but she also worked hard in volunteer work in town, helping us to enjoy what Wellesley has to offer. In addition to being part of activities at her daughters’ schools from Hunnewell through WMS and WHS, one of her major commitments was to the Celebrations/Wellesley Wonderful Weekend Committee, of which she was an active member for nearly 20 years.”

In awarding her the town’s Distinguished Service Award at the annual Veterans Parade in 2022, Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend Chair Roy Switzler said, “Wellesley is proud to salute its hometown writer, editor, WHS parent, and community volunteer for enriching the quality of life in this town we share.”

Upon hearing about her passing, Switzler marveled over her long-time dedication to the town. “She was one of the people who was instrumental in pulling together Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend year after year. Every committee she worked on in town was improved by her presence and hard work.”

Previously, Cathy earned a citation from U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy for her work as a Vermont newspaper editor, and received many New England Press awards during her tenure at the Townsman.

Perhaps more rewarding to Cathy was the influence she had on young reporters learning to become journalists.

“As a young reporter in my first—and ultimately only—job as a reporter, she was an indispensable resource,” said Jordan Mayblum, now a communications professional at a public school system.” She understood community news and the community she covered in equal depth, and had unmatched institutional knowledge which combined to make me a far better reporter and made our coverage of Wellesley as complete as it could be.”

Mayblum recalled being part of a team that covered deeply consequential news, including the sale of the North 40 and the defeated effort to overhaul the town’s system of government.  “Through it all, Cathy’s wisdom and deeply held sense of the context within which the news of the week occurred was essential… She would often ask probing questions that forced me to dig deeper and, simply put, I could not have asked for a better editor to guide me through.”

Cathy leaves her daughters, Hyacinth Brauner, of Pawtucket, RI and Kathryne Brauner, of Worcester, MA, grandchildren Lukas, Mila and Jaxon. Also, her sister, Susan Brauner, of East Boston.

In lieu of flowers, please donate online to Stray Pets in Need of Wellesley, or send donations to: Stray Pets in Need, PO Box #812143, Wellesley, MA 02482-0014.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 22 at 2pm at the UU Wellesley Hills Church. All are welcome.

This obituary was written with information contributed by Beth Hinchcliffe, Wellesley resident and a former editor of The Wellesley Townsman, family members, and others who knew Cathy Brauner.

We were saddened to learn this week of the passing of Dr. Ray Murphy, a former Wellesley resident who may have actually been my introduction to this town before we moved here.

As a longtime member of the Greater Framingham Running Club, I fondly recall visiting the wonderful home of Raymond “Ray” Leo Harrington Murphy, Jr., and his wife Peggy in the Cliff Estates area, though maybe not so fondly recall running up and down Cliff Road.  The Murphys would always host one of the club’s monthly breakfast-and-run meetings, often around the year-end holidays if I remember correctly.

Ray, who wrote a book about running called “If You Felt Like I Did, You’d Start Running,” had scaled back his roadwork when I knew him, though was always game to talk about the science of the sport. He was more focused at that time on swimming, where he competed and medaled in Senior Olympics events.

As described in his formal obituary, Ray was an accomplished medical professional, veteran (“proudly served on the USS Forrestal as part of the
commissioning crew responsible for patrolling the Mediterranean Sea”) and enthusiastic family man. He was Chief of Pulmonary Medicine at both the Faulkner and Shattuck Hospitals, and he even ” invented a stethoscope that captured and analyzed lung sounds electronically to help limit the invasive nature of some hospital monitoring systems and avoid unnecessary surgeries to improve outcomes.”

Visitation will be Thursday, March 7 from 4-6 PM at the Henry J.Burke & Sons Funeral Home, 56 Washington St., Wellesley Hills, MA. A Mass will be held on Friday, March 8, at 10 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church, 9 Glen Rd, Wellesley Hills, MA.

Let the Wellesley community know of your remembrances at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

John Garland Schuler, a lifelong Wellesley resident known for his service in education, government, and with charitable organizations, died peacefully at home on Feb. 3, 2024, at the age of 92 (see formal obituary).

A celebration of John’s life will be held at the Hills Congregational Church in Wellesley on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 1pm. In lieu of donations, John would encourage an act of service to the community.

This 1932 New Year’s Day baby had an outsized influence on Wellesley, where he graduated from the public school system and later taught at Dana Hall School, serving as chairman of the history department until his retirement in 1991.

John and his family were longtime residents in The Poets’ Corner neighborhood of town.

He began serving on Town Meeting in 1953 and was still serving through last fall’s Special Town Meeting. John kept up on current issues throughout, including in 2022 when he spoke to the benefits of accessible dwelling units. He shared on the floor that his children after graduating years ago from college all sought and found work in Wellesley, but couldn’t find housing here. “For a variety of reasons I strongly support Article 39,” he said. “For those of you who are newer Town Meeting members, this is my 70th consecutive year as a Town Meeting member and it has long been my hope that we would have this sort of an article brought before us.”

John had a longstanding interest in housing, having served on the Wellesley Housing Authority Board, which he sometimes chaired.

More recently, John and his wife Edwina “Dwin” Schuler, who survives him, were honored for their efforts with the Kiwanis Club service organization. About 100 family members, friends and admirers gathered at the Italo American Educational Club to fete the pair and enjoy their company. Their recognitions included the civics-oriented “The Schuler Award,” named after them (John had served more than once as the group’s president). In recent years, the couple was known for taking a leading role in the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive, which annually raises thousands of dollars to support neighbors in our community.

At the ceremony, John had no shortage of words to share, including many credits to his wife, and encouragement for all to be of service.

The list of local organizations that John participated in, often through leadership positions, was seemingly endless. Others included the Boy Scouts and Wellesley Historical Society.

John and Dwin’s efforts were often linked, and that was the case with their work at the Council on Aging and the opening of the Tolles Parsons Center in 2017. The multi-purpose room at the senior center is named for the Schulers. John was always up for some good fun at senior events, too, for example donning his greenest attire to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

I had the pleasure for years of being on the Wellesley Trails Committee with John, learning the history of the trails network from him, and walking in the woods with him as well. He loved sharing childhood stories of rehabbing an Oakland sedan and taking it for joyrides with friends in the woods at Longfellow Pond, now surrounded with paths marked by the Trails Committee. Once John got going on a topic, it was tough to derail him—I won’t soon forget his booming and commanding voice.

John  played a pivotal role in getting the Trails Committee started through his work on the town’s Celebrations Committee and chairmanship of a Bikeways and Walkways Study Committee in the 1990s. Evidence of his recent creativity and persistence when it came to trails can be seen in the form of beautiful flower boxes on the DCR bridge near Waterstone in Lower Falls. I can still picture John in the not-too-distant past out there helping fellow Trails Committee members identify roots for removal on the Charles River Path, lest they trip up his fellow seniors.

In addition to his wife, John is survived by his son Ed and wife Jody of Columbia, SC; his son Peter and wife Sue of Westwood, MA; his daughter-in-law Meredith of Harrisburg, PA; his daughter Phyllis and husband Les of Brighton, MA; along with seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by two sons, Dana in 1959 and Matthew in 2022.

If you’d like us to run a complete obituary of your loved one on Swellesley, please send to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com